three meditations

The parting words, “Good-bye”
were long ago derived from the prayer, “God be with you”
which, answered (God with you, God with me—
Immanuel: God with us),
undermines any finality goodbye connotes—
paralleling and making more accurate
the French (au revoir) and the German (auf wiedersehen)—
both “until we see again”
(literally “to seeing again”) —
acknowledging parting and separation,
but within the context of relationship,
expectation, and anticipation.

What is to be—
what is to come,
no one knows.
But with God—
with the assurance of the presence of God,
we enter our future with hope—
believing the unfolding
holds good gifts,
and that the best preparing
is together.

We go from the ingathering
of our community worship
into the different specifics of our lives,
but we go knowing
and relying on
the communion we share
with each other
and with God.